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Chapter 26: To Be Effortless Is Just to Be Spontaneous

That’s what we are doing here, and you are asking about the essence. Why not have a taste of it yourself? But mind is such, it makes questions out of everything:

“What is celebration?”

Rather than dancing, rather than laughing, rather than loving, rather than enjoying this silence, the mind asks: “What is celebration?”

Mind is something like a tree on which questions grow, and you answer one question and out of that one question, another question will come up.

Everybody knows what celebration is. I have never come across a person who does not know what celebration is. Just rejoicing in your being, just rejoicing in this moment, this tremendous universe. You had not asked for it, you have simply been given a universe which is infinite and eternal. You have not asked and you have been given a consciousness which is eternal, which can become festive. If you allow it, it can make you the sanest, the most graceful, the most loving.

A man of many seasons and many rainbows.

There are so many dimensions of celebration.

Rather than answering your question, I will say something else. Perhaps you can get the answer.

Hymie Goldberg takes up fishing, and much to Becky’s annoyance, spends all his spare time down at the river.

One day, a man calls at the Goldberg house and Becky answers the door.

“Good afternoon,” says the man, “I am looking for Mr. Goldberg.”

“I am Mrs. Goldberg,” says Becky, “can I help you?”

“I am afraid not,” replies the man. “It is Fishing Club business. Can you tell me where I can find him?”

“Certainly,” snaps Becky, “just go down to the river and look for a stick with a worm at both ends.”

Fergus and O’Reilly have been drinking partners at the same pub for years. Fergus has a humped back, and O’Reilly has a club foot.

One night, leaving the pub after a late session, Fergus takes a shortcut through the haunted cemetery. He is stumbling along, when a ghost pops out from behind one of the gravestones.

“What’s that on your back?” asks the ghost.

“It is a hump!” stammers Fergus.

“Well,” giggles the ghost, “I will take that!” All of a sudden, Fergus finds himself tall and straight - and running for his house as fast as he can.

The next night, Fergus tells O’Reilly all about his meeting with the ghost, and O’Reilly decides to try the shortcut through the graveyard himself. He is wandering around, when up pops the ghost, and asks O’Reilly, “What is that on your back?”